San Francisco/Melbourne/New York City-based quintet Beaten By Them have, in "Invisible Origins" (the follow-up to 2007's "Signs of Life" on Thrill Jockey), created a masterfully expansive tapestry of cello, guitars, bass, drums and electronics. Guitarist Andrew Harris and multi-instrumentalist Max McCormick, cellist Boima Tucker, drummer Jeff Ardziejewski and bassist Spencer Murray operate in their various cities' disparate musical sub-scenes when at home—rock, jazz, avant. McCormick and Murray met while working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the early ‘90s. Murray and Ardziejewski have been playing together for over a decade in various outfits. Tucker is, by trade, a DJ/producer. At a laundromat, he overheard McCormick having a phone conversation about wanting a cellist, dropped his bag of clothing, and volunteered. When combined as Beaten By Them, the quintet is able to operate inside the crucible of its members' varied dynamics, emerging brightly as something new, something organic, something moving. This time around, said crucible was dreary and intense: "Invisible Origins" was rehearsed and tracked over the course of twenty-one wet days in Portland, Oregon, a city that was to become in many ways a fourth home-base for the band. From the distant ethereal beginnings of 'Damp Sky 1ʼ -right through to its powerful closer, 'Skin of the Snake' - "Invisible Origins" possesses inexorable forward motion and a diversity of styles that play like a soundtrack for the spectrum of human emotion: 'Final Sun' and 'Destiny Manifest' have an almost cataclysmic intensity. Joyous frivolity and bouncing melody make an appearance in 'Yo'; 'Water' enchants with its unusual grandeur and beauty. The emotions, captured beautifully by engineer and producer Jeremy Sherrer, linger long after the final single piano note fades to a reflective and silent emptiness, leaving the listener questioning both what happened and what happens next. McCormick explains that the band's name originates from "the punchline of a joke only half-remembered" that was told during a night rehearsing and drinking at San Francisco's Toronado Bar. Though the context of the joke will forever remain elusive, the core of the memory remains; the core contains darkness, the circumstances were bright and creative, the event hazy, flowing, spontaneous. Truly reflective of the band's essence, which has never shone so brightly as here, on "Invisible Origins". PRESS QUOTES: "Remember how you thought apocalyptic post-rock had run its course and was no longer a viable genre? Well, I remember. I also remember taking it all back after hearing this Australian band's ominous debut...."- Stephen M. Deusner, Blurt Magazine "Beaten By Them could possibly be the next noise rock superstars with their great use of poetic tone and musical mastership. Signs of Life is an ambient masterpiece...." - NeuFutur Magazine "San Francisco's Beaten by Them has more in common with modern classical music and minimalist German bands like Kraftwerk and Neu! than it does with Godspeed! You Black Emperor." - Tom Murphy, Denver Westword "The space it's in always feels wide open, thanks to slow-building grandeur, swelling cello, and some impressively patient drum work." - The Onion "It's clear their goal is to step away from the norm, to push boundaries and create the uncreated. They seem to have mastered the art of taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary. Do not overlook this band, they have a something that is not easily found, and will never be fabricated....." - Mediasearch "The music sublimely enters your mind and twists your thoughts long after the music has finished - almost like a David Lynch movie....." - The Dwarf "One of the best post-rock releases in recent memory.... you're never quite sure what's around the corner, but you like it ALL. Beaten By Them have arrived as serious new artists...." - dB Magazine |
